Skip to content

Where different views on Israel and Judaism are welcome.

  • Home
  • Subscribe / donate
  • Events calendar
  • News
    • Local
    • National
    • Israel
    • World
    • עניין בחדשות
      A roundup of news in Canada and further afield, in Hebrew.
  • Opinion
    • From the JI
    • Op-Ed
  • Arts & Culture
    • Performing Arts
    • Music
    • Books
    • Visual Arts
    • TV & Film
  • Life
    • Celebrating the Holidays
    • Travel
    • The Daily Snooze
      Cartoons by Jacob Samuel
    • Mystery Photo
      Help the JI and JMABC fill in the gaps in our archives.
  • Community Links
    • Organizations, Etc.
    • Other News Sources & Blogs
    • Business Directory
  • FAQ
  • JI Chai Celebration
  • JI@88! video

Search

Follow @JewishIndie
The Fringe Festival runs Sept. 7-17. Many members of the Jewish community are involved, including ira cooper (see video:). Check out the full offerings at vancouverfringe.com

Recent Posts

  • Vazana at Chutzpah! Fest
  • VIFF films explore humanity
  • Past, present & future
  • VIFF 2023 ticket giveaway
  • Dialogue on democracy
  • A land of contradictions
  • Love and relationships
  • Elana Wenner joins museum
  • New librarian at Waldman
  • Tulchinsky at VPL as 2023 writer in residence
  • A heartwarming gathering
  • Six weeks of fun
  • Obligated to warn of danger
  • Recovery from surgery
  • לקנדה יש תוכנית נוודים דיגיטליים חדשה
  • Resilience in facing fire
  • Trio launches campaign
  • Moment for gratitude
  • Gondar in need of help
  • Response to death sentence
  • Train as peer support
  • CJPAC bridges engagement
  • The traveling Hebrew school
  • Volunteer from your home
  • CIJA takes campaign public
  • Film is a tribute to Burquest
  • Local teens in JCC Maccabis
  • Value of community
  • Local among new olim
  • Rockower win leads to NOLA
  • Urban warfare training
  • Kalla’s toxic new thriller
  • Habonim role pivotal
  • A yearly reminder to return
  • About the Rosh Hashanah cover art
  • New recipes for a new year

Archives

Nazi auction called off

0 Flares 0 Flares ×

Under community pressure, a Richmond auction house backed down from selling a collection of Nazi memorabilia last weekend. Maynards Fine Art and Antiques was set to auction items including Nazi flags, military items and other war-era artifacts on Saturday. Two days before that, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs was made aware of the items by a member of the community.

“We spoke to the lead appraiser, the person in charge of auctioning this lot,” said Nico Slobinsky, CIJA’s Pacific region director. “We provided context and tried to explain why auctioning these items was morally reprehensible. I would love to be able to tell you that we got positive engagement and understanding at the time when we had those conversations on Thursday. We did not get that positive engagement. It was clear to us from the response from the auction house that they were going to go ahead with the auction as originally planned.”

Community members and elected officials quickly mobilized and media seized the story. Individuals messaged the auction company and politicians lined up in opposition to the sale. Two members of the legislature from Richmond, Jas Johal and John Yap, spoke out, as did Andrew Wilkinson, leader of the B.C. Liberals.

Mike Sachs, past president of the Richmond congregation the Bayit and a Jewish community activist in Richmond, mobilized his contacts – even while vacationing in Mexico. He said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie not only spoke out against this incident but promised to proclaim Holocaust Awareness Day in January 2020.

“People were just disgusted that Maynards would do such a thing,” said Sachs. “As a whole, we all agree enough of profiting off Jewish blood. Enough. We’re not going to accept it anymore.”

Sachs and Slobinsky praised community allies who spoke up. They both believe that historical artifacts like these should be in museums or educational institutions, where they can serve as educational tools in proper context.

CIJA is asking Maynards for an apology and a donation to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. The organization extended an offer to the undisclosed owner of the items to assist in placing them in an appropriate venue.

 

Print/Email
0 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 0 Google+ 0 0 Flares ×
Posted on November 29, 2019November 27, 2019Author Pat JohnsonCategories LocalTags auction, CIJA, history, Holocaust, Maynards, Mike Sachs, Nazism, Nico Slobinsky

Post navigation

Previous Previous post: Troubles in leadership
Next Next post: ’Tis the season for jazz
Proudly powered by WordPress